Bay of Pigs was a disaster and John F. Kennedy took full responsibility for that. What led to the disaster was what was later coined by Irving Janis as "groupthink," which he explains in his book "Victims of Groupthink."

The plan for invasion was already underway during the Eisenhower administration. When Kennedy administration took power, they pretty much acquiesced to CIA on what they should do. There was not much debate or other alternatives considered and were told that the window of opportunity was closing and they better act now.

Others had doubt about the operation but did not speak up, and there was no thorough decision making process used to reach the final decision. The mission failed and was a major embarrassment for Kennedy and the United States, but, even worse, it bolstered Castro's grip on Cuba that still holds to this day

Did Kennedy learn anything from this debacle?.

He certainly did and helped him immensely during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

According to Professor Roberto, he states in lecture 10 that "the most important decision John F. Kennedy made in the Cuban Missile Crisis is not the naval blockade --- it's these process choices he made based in 1961 in deciding how to decide."

Some of the things Kennedy's team did that helped prevent groupthink include:

1) Look at multiple alternatives2) Keep probing the assumptions3) Have a vigorous debate4) Take a broad perspective instead of looking it at from a siloed perspective5) Remove any deference to experts6) Treat everyone as equals so people would feel free to communicate

They also made sure that the meetings were not held in the White House where it would have been difficult to do things outside established protocols and rules. Also, they had Robert Kennedy and Ted Sorensen, close advisers to Kennedy, acting as intellectual watchdogs to look into proposal, poke holes and offer criticisms. They wanted to make sure that the group was doing a thorough due diligence with what they were proposing.

They formed two subgroups and one came back with a proposal for military action and the second group came back with a proposal for a naval blockade, which was what Kennedy went with and helped end the crisis.

This is something that can be used by any entity when they have to make a decision. This is not easy, so it requires a strong leadership to make it happen.